Despite many creatively named initiatives, Michigan provides the bulk of its workforce training through traditional methods: CTE at the high school level within the existing public school system and at the postsecondary level through community colleges and select four-year institutions. Available data do not make clear the factors that determine which programs, certifications and degrees are offered at these institutions, but, presumably, the funding sources described above — especially federal Perkins grants — have some influence by tying funds to approved uses within certain programs of study.
The Michigan Department of Education publishes data on the use of CTE programs offered at the high school level.[*] More than 200 Michigan school districts in over 500 schools offer CTE and cumulatively enrolled nearly 128,000 students during the 2016-2017 academic year. In that year, CTE programs in Michigan provided training in 45 different subject areas, known as Classification of Instructional Programs, or CIPs. Some CIPs are widely offered across the state and have large enrollments, while others are more localized and have small enrollments.
In 2016-2017, the top five CIP programs by statewide enrollment were, in descending order: marketing sales and service; business administration, management, and operations; therapeutic services (i.e., nursing and other health fields); finance and financial management services; and agriculture. Unsurprisingly, all but one of these CIPs were among the top five most common ones offered by school districts in 2016-17. The exception was agriculture — automobile technician training was a more commonly offered program.
Graphic 1: Top 10 CTE Programs Offered and Top 10 Enrollment, 2016-17
Program | # offered | Program | % of total enrollment |
Business Admin Mgt & Operations | 193 | Marketing Sales and Services | 13% |
Finance & Financial Mgt Services | 170 | Business Admin Mgt & Operations | 12% |
Marketing Sales and Services | 162 | Therapeutic Services | 9% |
Therapeutic Services | 126 | Finance & Financial Mgt Services |
7% |
Automobile Technician | 108 | Agriculture | 7% |
Construction Trades | 97 | Automobile Technician | 5% |
Agriculture | 91 | Cooking & Related Culinary Arts | 5% |
Digital/Multimedia & Information Resources Design | 89 | Digital/Multimedia & Information Resources Design | 5% |
Cooking & Related Culinary Arts | 76 | Construction Trades | 4% |
Mechanical Drafting | 71 | Graphics Communications | 3% |
Source: Michigan Department of Education, http://www.cteisreports.com
There are other valuable measures of the usage of different CIPs offered by school districts. “Concentration” counts students who have completed at least seven segments of a CTE program with a 2.0 GPA or higher. “Completers” are students who finished all 12 segments of a program with at least a 2.0 GPA and passed a technical exam, when applicable.[20] Graphic 2 shows the top 10 CIP areas by rates of concentration and completion, and the number of programs statewide for each. The top three highest concentration rates were in diagnostic services (94%), insurance (94%) and biotechnology (91%). The programs with the top three completion rates were biotechnology (86%), diagnostic services (75%) and plumbing technology (74%).
Graphic 2: Top CTE Programs by Concentrators and Completers, 2016-17
Program | Concentrator | # of programs | Program | Completer | # of programs |
Diagnostic Services | 94.35% | 5 | Biotechnology | 85.96% | 2 |
Insurance | 93.86% | 5 | Diagnostic Services | 75.14% | 5 |
Biotechnology | 91.23% | 2 | Plumbing Technology | 74.47% | 1 |
Plumbing Technology | 85.11% | 1 | Elec/Power Tran Installer | 70.29% | 5 |
Elec/Power Tran Installer | 83.43% | 5 | Aero/Av/Aerospace Sci & Tech |
63.84% | 6 |
Systems Administration/Administrator | 82.54% | 15 | Therapeutic Services | 62.87% | 126 |
Health Informatics | 78.95% | 2 | Systems Administration/Administrator | 61.09% | 15 |
Therapeutic Services | 78.56% | 126 | Lineworker | 60.00% | 1 |
Welding/Brazing/Soldering | 78.37% | 68 | Public Safety/Protect Services | 58.88% | 41 |
Public Safety/Protect Services | 76.92% | 41 | Health Informatics | 57.89% | 2 |
Source: Michigan Department of Education, http://www.cteisreports.com
Interestingly, only one CIP area, therapeutic services, ranks in the top 10 by all four measures in Graphics 1 and 2. That is, it is offered by many institutions around the state, serves almost a tenth of CTE students in the state, and has above-average yields for its students, measured by concentration and completion. More generally, notice that programs that are offered most widely and experience the most enrollment are not those that result in the highest completion rates. Still, many of the other CIP areas that do experience high rates of concentration or completion represent industries in high-growth areas.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the health care and social assistance industry will experience the highest 10-year (2016-2026) growth rate, increasing by a projected 1.9% annually to become the largest industry sector by 2026. Construction is projected to be the fourth-highest growth industry, increasing by 1.2% annually.[21]
That CIP areas associated with careers thought to be in high demand also feature high yields could suggest at least two things. First, conditional on enrollment, perhaps students are more likely to complete or concentrate when the perceived benefits are greater, e.g., when employment prospects are more obviously promising. Second, high-demand fields may attract a different composition of students. If students of higher innate ability or intrinsic motivation are attracted to these fields, then their enrollment and concentration and completion rates may both reflect student quality, rather than the attributes of the program itself. Without additional data and significant econometric research, it is not possible to identify which theory, or if some combination of both, explains some of this phenomenon.
[*] The analysis that follows is based on data available from the Michigan Department of Education at http://67.227.242.156/ home/index/PECR.